Race Recap for the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway

• Kasey Kahne and the No. 9 Budweiser Dodge Team scored a solid third-place finish after starting the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway from the third position.
• The driver of the Budweiser Dodge was a picture of patience during the first half of the race, running in the top five throughout the first several circuits around the track.
• Kahne took control of the 500-mile event when he passed Matt Kenseth for the lead on lap 222. He stretched the lead to a seven-second margin over Jimmie Johnson and only relinquished the lead after a round of pit stops during the seventh caution on lap 290. Johnson took the lead after the round of pit stops with Kahne restarted second.
• The Budweiser Dodge was best during long, green-flag runs during the night but a series of cautions during the final 40 laps prevented Kahne from mounting a solid effort to regain the lead.
• After several attempts to regain the lead, Kahne eventually settled for a third-place finish.
• Kahne’s 13th top-10 finish of the season propelled him into the top 10 in the Chase for the Championship. He now sits in ninth position, 331 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson.
• Four of the top-10 finishers during the NASCAR Banking 500 were Chase drivers.
• Johnson held off a hard charging Matt Kenseth and Kahne to score his second-straight victory and extend his points lead by 90 over Mark Martin.

Quotes from Kahne on his third-place finish:
“We had a great Budweiser Dodge throughout the race. The tires we took on the last stop shook and didn’t turn. I guess that was our bad set for the night. It’s disappointing. We had the car to beat and the guy who beats everybody beat us tonight. Our car was as good as anything here. We just didn’t get it done at the end.”

YOU HAD SOME TIRE ISSUES THERE AT THE END, BUT YOU FINISHED THIRD AND MOVED UP TWO SPOTS FROM 11TH TO NINTH IN THE POINTS. HOW GOOD WAS YOUR CAR? “We had a really good Budweiser Dodge. We were up there. Matt (Kenseth) was up there and a couple other guys that seem to be there all night. Jimmie (Johnson) was one of them. We weren’t good enough that final run. We were the best car at times, but the final run when it counted, we weren’t. Jimmie showed up and beat us all.”

RESTARTS APPEARED DIFFICULT FOR YOU. CAN YOU CLARIFY WHAT THE PROBLEM MIGHT BE? “I always have a problem when I start off the front row this whole year with restarts. I just spin my tires. I try not to give it throttle and don’t spin my tires and I get pushed from behind.”

CAN YOU OFFER ANY HOPE TO THE FANS OUT THERE THAT THIS THING IS NOT OVER YET? “I don’t think either of us can stop him at this point as far as points go. It’s definitely not over. Anything can happen the rest of the year. If it doesn’t, Jimmie is the guy to beat.”

The following is the finishing position of the other beverage-sponsored cars that participated in the NASCAR Banking 500 in Charlotte:

• Casey Mears and the No. 07 Jack Daniels Chevrolet team finished 7th
• Kurt Busch and the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge team finished 10th
• Scott Speed, driver of the No. 82 Red Bull Toyota, finished 28th
• Jamie McMurray and the No. 26 Jeremiah Weed Southern Style Sweet Tea Vodka Ford Team finished 33rd
• Brian Vickers, driver of the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota, finished 34th
• Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevrolet, finished 38th

The following is the finishing order of the other Richard Petty Motorsports cars at Charlotte:

• Reed Sorenson, driver of the No. 43 Super 8 Dodge finished 21st
• AJ Allmendinger, driver of the No. 44 Best Buy Dodge finished 23rd
• Elliott Sadler, driver of the No. 19 Stanley/Susan G. Komen for the Cure Dodge finished 26th

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series travels to Martinsville Speedway for next weekend’s TUMS Fast Relief 500. The event is scheduled for a 1:30 p.m. EST start time on Sunday, October 25. ABC will provide live television coverage while the Motor Racing Network (MRN) will provide the live radio broadcast.